Residents are invited to join North Tyneside’s Elected Mayor and Chair in making a toast to Lord Admiral Collingwood.
The Trafalgar Day ‘Toast the Admiral’ event takes place at the Collingwood Monument, Tynemouth, on Friday 21 October. It’s the 13th year that North Tyneside Council has hosted the event for members of the public, invited dignitaries, and honoured guests.
The event remembers the life and heroic deeds of Admiral Lord Collingwood who served alongside Lord Nelson in several British victories in the Napoleonic Wars and took command at the Battle of Trafalgar after Nelson was fatally wounded.
It marks the day the British triumphed over the combined French and Spanish fleet, west of Cape Trafalgar, between Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar.
North Tyneside’s Elected Mayor, Norma Redfearn CBE, will be in attendance.
Chair of North Tyneside Council, Councillor Pat Oliver, will say a few words to introduce the event and welcome guests.
She said: “Every year the council hosts this special event to commemorate Trafalgar Day and raise a glass to our very own Admiral Collingwood. He was an inspirational leader, Naval officer, strategist, and diplomat.
“This annual gathering, in this wonderful location, looking out to sea, is always very special.
“Our pride in our maritime history is matched only by our pride in our Royal Navy and it is our great pleasure to welcome Commander Chris Bovill Commanding Officer for HMS Calliope, to deliver this year’s address.”
Commander Chris Bovill, Royal Navy, Commanding Officer HMS Calliope will give an address on Collingwood and the Battle of Trafalgar. This will be concluded by a toast at 12 noon to mark the time at which the first shot was fired in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
This is an outside event (without cover) and members of the public are advise to wear appropriate clothing and footwear for October conditions.
About Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood
Born in Newcastle on 26 September 1748, Collingwood’s naval career through the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars was an outstanding example of duty and courage.
Admiral Collingwood was famously second in command to Admiral Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar. His ship, Royal Sovereign was the first to fire upon the combined enemy fleet of French and Spanish ships and he was the most senior officer left standing when the battle had been won. Taking command of the British fleet, his skill as a seaman and commander ensured that no British ships were lost in the fierce storm that followed the action.
The respect that Collingwood earned was not confined to the British Navy, after Trafalgar he was able to negotiate with the Spanish at Cadiz to ensure that the wounded of all nationalities were cared for.
Admiral Collingwood was a highly-skilled commander who saw action in the battle of the ‘Glorious’ first of June under Admiral Howe, the battle of Cape St Vincent under Admiral Sir John Jervis and, after Trafalgar, he took over the Mediterranean command from the fallen Nelson, only relinquishing when he was near death, five years later in 1810. Post Trafalgar he was instrumental in ensuring that the complexity of the Mediterranean command was handled with the various skills of a viceroy, a politician, a diplomat and of course a naval commander.